AccorHotels has announced recent appointment of Garth Simmons to the position of Chief Operating Officer Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Garth has been with Accor since 2007 in a variety of strategic positions, including most recently as Senior Vice President New Zealand, Pacific Islands and Japan. He replaces Gerard Guillouet, who was with the group since 1986.

With over 30 years of experience in hospitality, Garth is one of AccorHotels’ most respected leaders, with a reputation for driving performance and forging strong relationships with owners and key tourism partners. In his most recent position in New Zealand, he led the country to record growth in direct web revenue (increased by 33%) and achieved strong increases in both network development and hotel performance.

Prior to this, he was Regional General Manager for AccorHotels NSW and ACT properties, where again he proved his ability to develop his staff and achieve strong growth. In addition to his responsibilities with AccorHotels, Garth also oversaw the company’s management of Qantas’ First Class Lounges in Sydney and Melbourne Airports.

Garth makes his move to Indonesia at a time when AccorHotels is enjoying tremendous growth in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, with a network of more than 115 hotels and a development pipeline of over 120 hotels in coming years across the three countries.

“I am very excited to make this move to Asia as we approach our milestone 100th hotel in Indonesia later his year,” said Garth Simmons. “AccorHotels has a strong history in the region as we opened our first hotel in Asia in Singapore in 1982 and since then our network has grown strongly, especially in Indonesia with 100 hotels in operation.

“I look forward to being part of our excellent teams in Asia and to building our position as the largest and most dynamic hotel group in these countries.”